Shelford 5ths 5: March All Stars 34 (by Richard Craddock)

"I was dreaming when I wrote this
    So sue me if I go too fast"
 
I don't know what to say really
Eighty minutes of one of the biggest games of our season
All came down to yesterday afternoon
Either we gel as a team or we are going to crumble (like a crumbling thing !)
Inch by inch, phase by phase ,till we're finished
We are in rugby heaven right now gentlemen
Believe me, we are enjoying the best years of our life
Watching the news, the next 50 are going to be difficult
 
When we get stuffed and can still smile and laugh through it, we are creating a good spirit
We are achieving a status that we cannot achieve anywhere else
Now I can't do it for you
I'm too old
I look around and I see those young faces
I think that I've probably made every bad choice a middle aged man can make over the years
I've given / spent every penny I've earned to the banks and Tesco
I've also chosen my family and chosen to play rugby
Those two things have changed my life completely
I see those who have not chosen well and I see their faces looking back at me in Iceland
 
I have chased everyone off who has tried to tackle me (on a rugby pitch)
I've used the teamwork skills I've learnt playing rugby to bond with work colleagues
I know people that I would never meet any other way (and I don't want to meet again)
Lately I don't recognise the face I see in the mirror ('Movember' has been a great success -
I can't wait for the ladies to have a go, I can't say it's name but it's in (J)anuary
You know when you get old in life, things get taken from you
That's part of life
But you only learn that when you start loosing stuff
You find out that life is just a game of inches
 
So is rugby
Because in either game
Life or rugby, that margin of error is so small
One side step too late or too early and you don't quite make it
One half second too slow (seconds in my case) or too quick and you don't catch the ball
And who amongst us has not made the same mistake in life
The inches we need are everywhere around us
They are in every phase of rugby and life
 
In this team we have to fight for every inch
In this team we treat each other fairly and with respect
We defend every inch because when we add it all up we get a result
Now I can't make you play but I know that you want to play
You've got to look at the man next to you and look into his eyes
And see that we are equal
We are nothing without each other
 
That's our team gentlemen
Either we grow as a team or we wither and die
We are a strong unit and that's what rugby does to you, makes you a team player
We have to be a strong unit, whichever team walks out onto the pitch
So, what are we going to do ?
See you all next week
 
The game now, we again meet in the middle of nowhere ,next to a big propeller factory.
We had new faces , old faces welcomed back to the fold and plenty of spirit. As expected this wasn't a March 3rd team so the first 20 minutes were sort of a learning process.
But after that we knuckled down and the second quarter (as Kai would say) was much better. We held the ball longer , ran with it and pushed them back on inti their half.The effort was amazing, this band ,this merry band of men gelled wonderfully as if we'd been playing together all our lives. Stand out names were Mano, Nick( I don't know what you were doing in the scrum but keep doing it) Julian, Kai, Chris L. Henry (soon to star in Cirque de Soleil !) and everybody else - you all desire a mention. Thank you NuMan Ed Wells II -man of the match (his first game in 19 years !) The effort was worth the trip and the spirit was great to be part of. Afterwards you couldn't tell who'd won by the atmosphere in the changing rooms (and yes I will shower from now on). Thank you all for making the pain I feel now worth it. See you all next week